Good morning,
The troop survived a wild and wooly weekend of blowouts, near freezing temperatures (okay 46 degrees), multiple brush fires on the commute up and back, and trailblazing over rocks and through thickets to have as Mother Hen said on Mother’s Day a ‘perfect backpacking weekend.’ Chevlon was all it was advertized to be – tall pines and oaks, lush grassy meadows, pine needle beds, pooling crystal creek water, all the seafood you could eat, and a group of scouts who worked and played together as well as any in recent memory. Whether it was an outstanding day hike to the mouth of Canyon Lake, farming and boiling buckets full of craw-dads, singing a 1960s and 1970s playlist that did not end, telling riddles and jokes around the fire (no, there were not fire restrictions in the Sitgreaves Forest yet), or sleeping under the billions of brilliant stars, a most magnificent time was had by all. Begin planning now to attend the June canoe outing at Lake Roosevelt on the weekend of June 8-10 to take part in next month’s fun! It’ll be perfect for swimming and canoeing – hot air temperatures and cool, crisp water.
Many thanks to the senior boys who worked the Knights dinner last Saturday night. Tonight is the troop meeting, and an brief exposure into the exceptional career opportunity followed by one of our scout dads. Looking ahead, we have finalized a number of dates for June that have now been making their way onto the calendar. June 5th will be Patrol Leaders Council and a troop committee and parent meeting, June 12th is the target date for troop CPR training (required for a number of the Geronimo merit badges, but good training to boot for any scout), and June 19th is the pre-summer camp court of honor. Finish up the rank you have been working on, and proudly wear your new rank at summer camp! If you can’t quite get there, never fear. There is a ton of opportunity for advancement at summer camp, and there will be another court of honor in the 3rd quarter. The latest calendar entry I’d like to bring to your attention is the PLC weekend date this year. In working through some key scheduling dates, we have decided to push it back to August 24th – 26th this year. For those boys in leadership (Patrol Leaders and above), this is the key weekend at a local resort where the entire yearly troop calendar comes together through their research, negotiation and hard work.
I hope that you had a terrific Mother’s Day with the mother or mother figure in your life, best wishes for outstanding results as school winds to a close, and we’ll see you tonight at the troop meeting….
Mr. Cole